From showers to overgrown flowers, April is a month that is considered to be an extremity by many people. April Fool’s Day, on the first of the month, continues with this pattern adding to the growing list of oddities in the month. April Fool’s Day is a day where people play pranks on others for giggles or no apparent reason. The origin of this holiday is uncertain with many historians debating about its whereabouts. The majority of pranks played during April Fool’s Day are harmless and are meant for easy laughs, while a small number of pranks turn out to be dangerous or even downright insane. These pranks are called extremities as they go far beyond the line of what is considered “normal” and what is considered “crazy.” In this article, the GH Falcon curated a collection of 4 pranks that went too far.
Code Red Lockdown
The phone rang in the front office of Apex High School on April 1, 2024. The voice on the other side spoke with a low ominous tone. The receptionist froze in fear after hearing the words through the phone; the individual on the other side of the phone had a gun and threatened violence against the school. The school was quickly alerted and was placed into a code-red lockdown. The school was placed on lockdown for a short 15 minutes, and the school’s resource officer explained how the call was nothing more than an April Fool’s prank. Apex High wasn’t the only school that received fake threats, with multiple other high schools reporting similar instances. Though no one was physically harmed, the pranks could most likely lead to fear in the community.
Titanic Trouble
“A full-size replica of the Titanic is visible off the cliffs at Beachy Head” a southern FM radio station reported on April 1, 2001. This report led to people traveling to Beachy Head located in England and climbing the cliffs in hopes of getting a glimpse of the ship. The amount of people who came was so great that the cliffs began to crack, later collapsing into the sea. Luckily, no one was harmed but the radio station had to apologize because of their deception.
Volcanic Dynamic
On a Tuesday afternoon in Massachusetts, families tuned into their local television channel WNAC-TV to watch the news. During the end of the 6 p.m. broadcast, families were shocked by the information that was given: the volcano, Great Blue Hill, located in Milton, Massachusetts had erupted. The news channel even edited a video of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter expressing concern about this matter. At the end of this broadcast, the reporter who spoke about this event held up an April Fools card to show how the broadcasted news was simply a joke. This part did not seem to be noticed as many people began fleeing their homes and calling the police department. When people had learned that this was just a prank many of them contacted the news channel to complain leading to the termination of the executive producer.
DJ Danger
What would you do if your water was contaminated with dihydrogen monoxide? Well if one truly understood the question, they would realize that dihydrogen monoxide is just water. This is what people failed to notice in, 2013, when two radio DJs reported that the water quality had been contaminated in Cape Coral-Fort Myers. People began contacting the utilities department, questioning if the water had truly been contaminated. After learning that the report was simply a hoax, listeners began complaining to the radio station, and the two DJs were suspended for their actions.
In the end, while most of these pranks were harmless, their outcomes can leave a lasting impression which can disrupt the community and spark fear in the people.
